The Nyali Bridge was a floating pontoon bridge linking Mombasa Island to the Kenyan mainland. The bridge linked the Mzizima district of Mombasa to Nyali, and was built in 1931. In 1980, the bridge was superseded by the New Nyali Bridge (located approximately 0.55 miles (0.89 km) to the north), leaving the steel bridge to be dismantled for scrap. The western (Mombasa) approach to the bridge is the only remaining part of the bridge but one of the pontoon mooring anchors is on nearby display at the Tamarind Restaurant.
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed, the material used to make it and the funds available to build it.
1978: The old (floating) Nyali bridge in Mombasa. The 2nd pic is of the bridge as it looks today.
The old bridge was commissioned by Governor Joseph Byrne in 1931 while the new one was completed in 1980.
2nd pic credit: travelmombasa dot com. pic.twitter.com/HdvNKipgj8
— H i s t o r yK E (@HistoryKE) April 24, 2019
Old Nyali Bridge
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Coordinates | 4°2′51″S 39°40′42″E |
Carries | Road traffic, pedestrians |
Crosses | Tudor Creek |
Locale | ![]() |
Characteristics | |
Design | floating pontoon bridge |
Total length | 400 m (1,300 ft) |
Longest span | 250 m (820 ft) |
History | |
Opened | 1980 |
New Nyali bridge:-It is 391.65 metres long and 26.3 metres wide with a total of six lanes. The main bridge is 330metres prestressed continuous box girder over three spans with the centre span of 150 metres. The outer spans are 90 metres each. The bridge is founded on piled foundation. Nyali Bridge includes an approach bridge with three spans totaling 61.65 metres whose superstructure is simply reinforced concrete beams and the deck. Since its completion in 1980, no periodic maintenance was done to the bridge until 2005 when major repairs to the bridge were carried out. The repairs included post tensioning the box girder and shear strengthening using crack sealing and use of steel plates on the internal face of the box girder.